


Bone and Ruination

by sophiethung



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-22 20:08:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11387496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophiethung/pseuds/sophiethung
Summary: Keith and Lance are sent on a mission to an unexplored planet, where they're captured, drugged and made into gladiators. They hold up on their own until they're made to fight each other...Set before the final battle against  Zarkon.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i just finished rewatching season 2 and thought the self doubt that Lance has in one of the later episodes is such a great opportunity for angst. And we all know angst = character developement ;)

"Alright, Paladins!" Allura's voice sounded in Keith's ear, loud and clear. She was on the bridge, while Keith was in his room listening to music he enjoyed from back home. He didn't miss it, being on Earth, but there were a few things he liked about it. "We've got a new mission." 

Allura sounded happy, so it couldn't be anything too serious. Then again, there were very few times she didn't sound happy or at least excited. Keith understood that her optimism was important aboard this ship, but it often got on his nerves. As did Shiro's infatuation with her. 

Keith sighed as he swung his legs over the bed, not exactly ready to go out after that last mission. Lance had been especially annoying, and had almost compromised the team. The boy was as incompetent as a puppy, and he had no idea how to take anything seriously. He was arrogant, annoying and he barely contributed to the team. The only reason he was still around was because they needed him to form Voltron, and nothing else. His continuous yet one-sided flirting with Allura got on everyone's nerves, and had by no means been effective so far. 

Lance, however, always had his head too far up his ass to notice. 

Keith pushed his access pad and dragged himself out of the room. He was tired, and needed rest.

When he arrived on the bridge, everybody else was already gathered around the central command. They looked up when he walked in, but by the looks of it, they hadn't started yet. 

"Alright!" Allura chirped, turning back to her console. "We've picked up radio-transmissions from a near-by planet. I asked Coran to find out who it was, and it turns out it's a very new civilization." When the rest of the team stared blankly at her beaming face, she rolled her eyes and continued. "They're not in our database! And, from what we've gathered from our long-range scans, they're not part of the Galra Empire!" 

"They could be potential allies," said Shiro, a thoughtful look on his face. 

"Exactly!" She gave him a smile, and Keith rolled his eyes. The tension between these two may not have been entirely sexual, but it certainly wasn't platonic. Though, he supposed, it wasn't exactly his area to judge. "However, we can't seem to find a central area. There's three locations on this planet that seem to have about equal populations, so you'll have to split up."

Pidge groaned, throwing her head back. Keith knew she liked her alone time, but got nervous when she was alone without anyone within shouting distance. 

"Don't worry, Pidge, you're with me," said Shiro. Keith looked up from his hands and glared at him. Shiro knew Keith didn't exactly get along very well with anyone but him and Pidge.

"I call dibs on Coran!" called Hunk. He hurried over to Coran and grabbed his arm. Coran didn't seem to mind. 

"I'll have to stay here to monitor in case anything goes wrong, so that leaves Keith and Lance," said Allura, glancing nervously at Keith. Shiro looked at Keith worriedly. Everybody knew how well the two of them got along. 

This was going to be great. 

* * *

 

 

Half an hour later Keith landed Red next to Lance's lion on the barren surface of the planet. 

"Woah," he heard Pidge whisper over the comm. "It's so green here." Green? The area where Keith and Lance had landed was a sandbox stretching further than he could see. 

"Lucky," whined Lance. "We've got a desert of some sort." 

"We've got mountains," said Hunk.

Keith looked around, looking for any signs of life. He saw none, but the air was hazy and dusty, so he didn't trust his sight. 

"See anything?" asked Keith, looking at Lance, who had better eyesight.

"Nothing." He was uncharacteristically quiet. Keith had expected him to flaunt and show off, trying to prove he was better. Keith knew Lance thought he had a thing for Allura, and he tried to prove his worth to her with every opportunity. 

"Hey, Shiro?" That was Allura over the comm. Keith tapped the side of the helmet to block out their communication. If they really needed to talk to him, they could overrride it, but Keith didn't want to listen to their endless flirting. 

"Keith!" There was an urgency in Lance's voice that startled him, and he swirled around to look at him. In doing so, however, he turned his back to whatever Lance must've been pointing at, and he felt a blow on the back of his head. 

The world went sideways before going dark. 

He woke in a dark room, a cold draft washing against his skin. He was on his back on cold, stone floor. 

Keith blinked as his eyes got adjusted and spotted Lance leaning against a wall. 

"Finally," he huffed. Arrogant prick. "You were out for about twenty minutes by the way." 

Keith groaned as a wave of throbbing flared up at the back of his skull. He sat up and pressed his hand against his head. When he pulled back, his fingertips were red with blood. Lance sauntered over to him and crouched behind him. 

"I thought it would be best not to move you while you were still out," he said, his voice calm and soothing. Keith felt his hair being pushed apart and a cold cloth being pressed against the wound. He flinched, but held himself still. Lance dabbed the cloth at the wound several times, and then dried his head with another section of the cloth. 

"Thanks," Keith said, looking up at Lance in surprise. His usual smirk was back on his face, but Keith ignored it. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"Three of my sisters were doctors," said Lance, washing out the bloodied cloth in what looked like a bowl of water. "They taught me a little. I was known as the surrogate healer at the academy." Lance puffed out his chest like the great buffoon he was, and looked at Keith with an eye brown raised. 

Keith rolled his eyes. He shouldn't have asked. "No, you weren't." 

"No, really! I was on a team with Pidge and Hunk, remember?" That made sense.  Pidge got too excited quickly and often ended up hurting herself creating something, and Hunk got sick often. 

"Where are we?" said Keith after a while. He looked around the room and saw bars lining two of the walls. Behind the bars was a corridor filled with cells like their own, dimly lit with buzzing light. 

"No idea." 

"Have you tried contacting the others?" 

"They took our suits, Keith," said Lance plainly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Though, it probably was - Keith had just failed to notice. "We're not close to the lions, either."

Shit. 

Suddenly a great heave sounded from the end of the hall. Whatever were in the other cages started to shriek and rattle, sending shivers down Keith's spine. 

Lance held out his hand and Keith took it, pulling himself up. His head swam, but he shook it off. 

A bulky figure appeared in front of the cage door, with skin that seemed to be made of flaky sand of some sort. It grunted and thrust a package wrapped in leaf towards Keith. 

He took it.

"Eat," it growled in a low voice. "Heal." With that it pointed what looked like some sort of weapon at Keith. He quickly unwrapped the package and found some kind of blue stone, except it was squishy and soft. 

He took a bite, marveling at how sweet it was. His head stopped swimming and the wound started to pulse and throb. It lasted about a second before it abrubtly stopped. The pain was gone. 

Keith gingerly touched the back of his skull and found the skin completely healed. He looked up in surprise. 

The creature held out two more packages. It gave one to Lance and one to Keith. Then it turned around and started opening another cage. It took an alien that looked like a colorful cross between a wolf and a crocodile and led it away. 

Keith only took a small bite from his food before giving it to Lance, who was wolfing his food down like he hadn't eaten in five years. 

A great roar erupted from the wall behind them, and Keith swiveled around. It sounded like a crowd cheering for something. 

The creature returned and opened their cage. It roughly grabbed Keith by the arm and dragged him away. 

"Keith!" yelled Lance, desperately trying to grab onto Keith's hand. The cage door was shut in his face, and Lance yelped. 

Instinctual terror numbed Keith as he was led down a dark corridor. He stumbled once and was dragged roughly to his feet. At the end of the corridor there was light, which soon became so bright Keith had to squint to avoid hurting his eyes. 

The creature threw him into the light and shut the door behind him. 

Keith blinked and waited for his eyes to adjust. When he could see again, he gasped. 

He was in a huge pit of sorts, and the walls were lined with seats. The crowd in those seats, raised a meter or two above the ground, cheered as he turned a full circle. He was surrounded by walls and crowds.

He was in an arena. 

A door behind him opened and a sword was thrown out. Keith picked it up.

It wasn't unlike his own sword, save the fact that it was made of steel. It weighed around the same and felt balanced in his hand. 

Another door, all the way on the other side of the arena, hissed open. A creature was thrown in. Keith realized it was the lizard-wolf thing that he'd seen earlier.

It shook its head and spotted Keith. It wasted no second and started running straight to him. It took Keith a second to realize he was supposed to fight, and he braced himself for impact. 

The creature swerved at the last moment, dodging Keith's initial thrust, and swiped its paw at his midriff. Keith dodged the attack, and jumped to the right. He swung his sword over his head, hacking at the leathery tail that was swinging right at him. The creature howled, and the crowd cheered.

Keith danced out of the way, and let adrenaline take over. He stepped past another huge paw and lunged forward. He switched his hand on his sword and jammed it into the creatures neck, spraying his own face in blue blood. The creature collapsed, and the crowd roared. 

Keith yanked his sword from the creatures neck and wiped some of the blood off of his face. He was breathing hard, and his heart hammered in his chest. 

He had barely slowed his breathing when the door opened again...

* * *

 

Keith dropped to his knees, his breath coming in labored gasps. He'd just slain his third creature, and he was starting to wear down. He suspected he'd have to keep going until he was either rescued by his friends... or until he died. 

He stood up and walked back to his end, hoping to give himself some time to look at his opponent before having to kill it. 

Instead of the door opening, and circle in the middle of the arena shot up, like they did in the training hall on the Castle. 

On the circle were two bowls. Keith didn't move, suspecting it would be a trap. 

The door on the other end of the arena opened, and his opponent came stumbling inside, followed by a sword. It stumbled, landing facefirst in the dirt. 

Keith watched as it slowly got up, its humanoid shape shaking slightly. It picked up the sword and looked up. 

Keith gasped.

He couldnt see him very well, seeing how far he was, but the person opposite him was definitely Lance. 

Keith started running forward, knowing fully that he was supposed to kill Lance. He knew he wouldn't. 

Lance started to run as well, keeping his sword low like Keith. 

When they reached the middle, standing on opposite sides of the table, Keith noticed Lance looked about as beaten up as himself. 

His hair was sticking up in every direction, and he had several cuts and bruises over his face. His tunic was torn across his side, revealing a nasty gash. 

"I'm not fighting you," said Keith breathlessly. "I'm not fighting him!" He shouted at the crowd. 

"Eat!" a voice boomed. It seemed to come from every direction, and it was deafening. 

Keith looked at the bowls in front of him. They contained the same blue food that had healed him back in the cell, so Keith hesitantly took a bite from one. It tasted sweet, but it didn't do anything to heal him. 

He took another bite, and set it down again. He felt a surge of annoyance as Lance wolfed down his own bowl. 

Greedy bastard. 

"Guess we just gotta wait for Shiro to rescue us," said Keith. 

Lance looked at him darkly. "Yeah, of course he'll rescue _you._ " There was a dangerous edge to his voice that Keith had never heard before. He frowned at Lance, feeling his temper rise.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he snapped.

"Keith... everybody's favorite Paladin." Lance sneered. "Shiro's always worried about you... Hulk and Pidge think you're the coolest guy ever, and Allura probably can't wait to have you in her bed." Keith huffed. Stupid Lance was jealous again. "Have you fucked her already, Keith?" Lance mocked. 

"What's gotten into you?" 

"What makes you so special, huh?!" Lance was shouting now, and he'd slammed his bowl down. 

"I actually contribute to the fucking team!" The words were out of Keith's mouth before he knew it, but he felt so angry, and he wanted to hurt Lance. 

"Arghh!" Lance shouted, lunging over the table with his sword. Keith parried the blow, and stepped back, giving himself more space to maneuver. 

Lance jumped over the table and lunged again, face contorted in rage. 

"You don't do anything!" Keith shouted. "We all bring something special to the team, except for you!" He didn't know where the words were coming from, but they struck something in Lance, because he screamed and launched a flurry of attacks. 

Keith parried each blow to the best of his ability. He was better with a sword, but Lance was bigger, stronger and a lot angrier. He never once got the opportunity to launch an attack of his own. 

"You've taken everything!" Lance shouted between blows. Keith didn't remember why he'd gotten so angry. "You took my two best friends, you took Allura and now Shiro wants you to be leader to the team!" 

What? Keith's anger faded away, but Lance's didn't. He kept striking and attacking, wearing Keith out until he was gasping for breath. 

"Lance!" he shouted. "Stop! This isn't you!" The aliens here must've done something to him. They must've made him like this. 

The food.

Lance had eaten so much more than him, and he was so much angrier. It didn't matter now, because if Lance didn't stop soon, he would certainly hurt Keith. 

Lance's attacks kept coming, and Keith could barely lift his sword. His arms ached and his legs trembled, exhaustion waving over his body.

Suddenly a loud roar sounded from the sky, and two lions came swooping down. Pidge and Shiro were here. 

Keith wavered, and Lance took the opportunity to strike. Before he could, however, the black lion scooped him up. 

Keith looked up and jumped, landing perfectly in the yellow lions mouth. He collapsed, breathing heavily and heart stammering.

He pushed himself up and walked to the cockpit, where he found Pidge piloting them out of there. 

"Hunk and Coran are retrieving your suits and your lions are already on the Castle," Pidge said without looking up. 

Keith groaned as he sat down, his legs and feet aching from over working. Pidge shot a worried glance at him.

"Don't worry," she said. "Allura will fix you and Lance up."

Keith wasn't so sure. 


	2. Chapter 2

Lance knew the truth when he heard it. Afterwards he realized that they'd both been under some kind of influence, but it didn't matter. 

Keith had meant what he said on that field. Lance had known that he was useless for some time, of course, but he'd never expected to hear it from anyone else. 

Pidge had her shield, Hunk had his shoulder cannon, Shiro was the leader, and Keith had his sword. What did Lance have? He knew he was only here because he was a leg. Nothing else. 

Keith had tried to come up to him after they were done healing, but Lance had hurried on, hiding in his room instead. He knew he couldn't avoid this conversation forever, but he found it impossibly embarrassing to talk to Keith anyway. The boy was so much better at everything, and now that he'd seen past Lance's defenses, he would surely become insufferable. The fact that everybody knew Keith was better made it so much worse. Pidge and Hunk had left Lance in the dust after becoming friends with Keith, and Shiro seemed to only add to that. Lance had, of course, suspected that Allura and Keith had a thing, but it still hurt to know.

So now he was here, holing up in his room as much as he could. 

A knock sounded from his door, and Lance sat up. 

"Who is it?" he mumbled. 

"Allura." Her voice was muffled and distorted. Lance sighed as he got up and unlocked the door. He didn't open it, but Allura knew how to get past a fucking door.

She swept in, gracefully as ever. Lance was surprised it didn't affect him all that much. 

"How are you feeling?" she asked, concern in her voice. Man, she was good at acting. 

"Fine," muttered Lance, avoiding her gaze. Keith probably already told her what happened, as she put her hand on his shoulder.

"You're a part of this team, Lance," she said. As if he didn't know it. Not a valuable one, sure, but a present one. "You're just as valuable as the rest of us. Without you, Voltron would never be able-" 

"Are you done?" Lance cut her off, not wanting to hear any more of it. He looked at her in the eyes, and saw them shimmering with tears. A great actress indeed. 

"Yes." 

And she swept away, letting the door slide shut behind her. 

Lance locked the door and collapsed onto his bed. He tugged off his shirt and pants, and crawled under the covers.

Better wait for death here. 

* * *

 

"And? Did you talk to him?" Shiro inquired. 

Keith gaped at him, wondering how anyone that blind could lead this team. Allura's eyes were rimmed with red, and her cheeks were wet. She'd been crying, right after she'd said she'd talk to Lance.

"He shut me off completely," she said, voice only shaking slightly. Keith looked up in surprise. They'd sent in Allura because Lance was always so loud around her, so open. "I tried to tell him he was just as much a part of this time as any of us, but he wouldn't listen." She pushed her shoulders back and lifted her chin, the way she always did when she had to be strong. 

"This is my fault," said Keith miserably. He looked down at his hands in shame, not wanting to see the disapproval of the others. 

"No, it isn't," said Shiro, crouching down in front of Keith. "We should never have split up in the first place."

"Agreed," said Pidge. "We just assumed they'd be friendly." 

"Yeah, they were just bullies with really good tasting food," said Hunk, though somewhat whistfully. Keith chuckled shallowly.

"We've got to prove to him that we need him," said Allura. "He won't listen, but maybe he'll see." 

Keith didn't ask what she meant by that, because suddenly she gasped and frantically started punching numbers into her console. 

"What?" exclaimed Shiro, a worried look on his face as he shot up. 

Allura furiously typed for a few moments before answering. "Oh, it's nothing," she said absentmindedly. "Just get some rest, all of you." Keith wondered why she was acting so strange, but he admitted he was too tired to ask. 

He was exhausted, and collapsed as soon as his bed was within range. It had been a long day. Days? He really didn't know. 

The next few days passed without Lance. He stayed in his room, only coming out to eat and train. Even then, he was always alone. 

The few times Keith had walked in on him training, he saw that the intensity was higher than even he usually put it. But Lance always shut it down as soon as he noticed Keith, which he did fairly quickly more often than not. Lance still ate with them, and talked with them, but not in the same loud and annoying way he used to. Keith used to feel exasperated whenever Lance said some slightly sexist or dumb remark, but now he just kind of missed it. Keith worried that Lance was out to prove himself, or some idiotic chore like that.

Keith tried to talk to Lance at every opportunity, but the only times they saw each other was during training. Even then, he tried to say something, but he would end up being scolded by Shiro for not focusing properly. He gave up after about two days.

He knew Pidge blamed him. She missed the old, happy Lance, even though his jokes always made her uncomfortable. She always took the opportunity to say how she should've gone with him instead. Though she always avoided directly blaming Keith, it was implied. Hunk stayed awfully cheerful, always trying to keep everyone together as much as he could. During training, he'd joke with Lance, while focusing on their target. It would often end up one sided, but it was still the most any of them got out of him. Shiro tried his best to help Lance out of his bubble, but they were never really close and they didn't really know each other that well. 

Keith decided it was time to come up with a plan, one that would coax Lance out of his ball of misery. 

So he sat down one night, on his bed, and started coming up with ideas. He'd never really been one for planning, but he was going to try. 

However, he'd barely gotten half an idea down when Allura called out over the comm. 

"Quick! We've been spotted by a Galra ship!" Keith jumped up, hit his head and sprinted into his pod. There he changed into his uniform as quickly as he could, and sprinted down to the bridge. 

Once he got there he saw that Lance and Pidge were already there, and that he was followed by Hunk and Shiro. 

"We were flying through uncharted territory," Allura said quickly. "I didn't see the Galra ship! You've got to form Voltron and destroy that ship." Keith didn't bother to ask why they couldn't just wormhole away, as he was anxious to get some action again.

He practically crashed into his pod and zoomed down. There, he grabbed onto that pretentious zip line and pushed off. He'd always hated this part, because it was highly inefficient and quite tiring.

He raced his speeder into Red, and ran up to the cockpit. He flipped the switches and thrust the controls forward, sending them flying off into space. 

His teammates were already in battle with the ship, maneuvering around the blaster fire and taking it part with their weapons. He surged forward, blasting fire onto the ship's hull. He saw Blue coming in after him with ice, and then Yellow landing a blow that cracked the hull nearly in two. The ship flickered and groaned, before its lights went out. 

Keith narrowed his eyes in suspicion - it had been too easy. He flexed his hands on the controls anxiously, waiting for something to happen. 

He was the only one not cheering, and Lance must've noticed, because he clicked on his comm.

"Alright guys let's head back," he said. "I think Keith here is getting anxious, being away from Allura for so long." It was a joke. A horribly incorrect joke, hidden under snide and a huff, but a joke nonetheless.

"Allura and I aren't together," grumbled Keith. He was annoyed with Lance for even thinking that. "It's more like her and Shiro are, but that's not my business." He hadn't meant to add in that last sentence, but it just slipped out. He heard complaints from both Shiro and Allura, but he didn't listen. 

"Oh." That was all Lance had to say.

* * *

 

Lance had no idea why he'd felt so relieved after learning Allura and Shiro were a thing. It wasn't like it made her any more available to him. 

Even so, he felt lighter than he had in days. He was still pissed at Keith for telling everyone what he'd said, but it sat more at the back of his mind now. He sighed and shook his head. 

When he looked up, his heart stuttered. There was a giant robot of some kind heading right for Red. Keith made no inclination of flight, but the robot charged its arm-weapon thing with purple energy. 

Lance wanted to cry out to Keith, but the only sound that ripped itself from his throat was a croak. 

The robot looked like a massive human, much like Voltron. It was black, with golden and purple lines along some of the largest plates. It's arms were made of some kind of weapon that looked like a cross between a sword and a gun, with a sharp edge and a barrel. 

The sword-gun was glowing purple, burning brighter with every second. It aimed it right at Keith, who still made no sign of recognition.

"Let's head back to the Castle," Lance heard Shiro say over the comm. He also heard Keith agree and saw him turn around, with his back to the robot. 

They shot away, but the gun-arm followed Keith. Lance's voice still didn't work, and he knew he'd never reach the robot in time. 

He thrust the controls forward, and he shot between Keith and the laser at the last second. He pulled the trigger, and ice shot from Blue's mouth. It held the purple ray back, but the ray was much more powerful.

Lance could feel Blue straining to push back. Even so, the point where ice and energy met with colorful sparks and heavy crashes, was coming closer to them by the second. 

The rest of the team still didn't notice, instead talking about dinner. Lance shot a look in his rear-camera to see the shuttle door for the black lion close. 

When he turned to focus on the ice again, the energy had already reached him and he was hit head on. Lance yelled as Blue was blasted backwards, alarms blaring in his ears. 

He pulled the handles to stabilize the lion, and then surged forward to attack the monster.

It was no longer charging its weapon, but the sharp edge of the blade glowed the dangerous purple. The robot swung, and Lance dodged in the opposite direction. He fired a quick succession of blasts, aimed carefully at three different point of the robot. All three hit their mark. The robot, however, didn't seem affected at all, and Lance didn't have time to dodge the next attack. 

Blue was hit at her flank, and Lance could feel her pain. He screamed, and fired another five shots. These were all aimed at places Voltron would be weak, like its face and where legs met the body. 

"Lance!" He heard Allura's panicked voice over the comm. He hit the robot again, but didn't see the charge that was building up in the gun. 

The blast threw Blue all the way into the Castle's walls, and the impact nearly knocked Lance out. He flexed his hands on the controls and gritted his teeth before firing off again. 

Even from this distance, all the shots hit their mark. The robot started to twitch and spark flew from multiple wounds. With one final blast, it hit Blue again, and then it went still. 

Lance yelled as Blue spiraled out of control, scraping against the Castle as she went. Suddenly they stopped spinning, and when Lance looked up he saw the black lion looming over them. 

"Thanks, Shiro," Lance breathed. 

"Get back inside," said Shiro. He didn't sound particularly angry, but his voice sent chills down Lance's spine anyway. 

Blue was slow as she trudged into her hangar, and she dragged against the floor when she landed. Lance unbuckled himself and limped towards the exit, leaning on the walls for support. 

"You did good, baby," he said hoarsely as he patted her wall. His left foot dragged behind him, and Lance was afraid he'd faint if the pain in his side didn't stop soon. Getting down the exit was hard, but he managed. 

When he was out, he leaned against Blue's leg, breathing heavily. 

"We're a damn good team," he said to her. 

"LANCE!" 

Lance looked up to see a very angry-looking Keith storming right at him.

"Listen, Keith... I-"

* * *

 

Keith had just turned in Red into the hangar, and was heading to the cafeteria when he heard it: Lance's mangled scream. 

It chilled him to the bone. 

Every fiber in his being screamed to rush out into space and tear down whatever was hurting him, but when he started back towards the hangar, he was stopped by a worried Shiro. 

"Lance!" He heard Allura cry. "Paladins, there's another creature out there! I don't know how, but it's stayed hidden from both sight and sensors until now." 

Shiro let him go then, and Keith ran towards the hangar. It seemed to take longer than ever, even when he ran faster than ever. He raced into Red and they shot through the hangar. 

Lance was on the opposite side of the castle, and Red seemed to be in one of her less cooperative moods. She refused to turn, instead hovering right over the fighting. 

Keith could see what was happening below. Lance was getting tossed around like a rag doll, only firing a few shots every now and then. He saw the weapon firing up, and saw Blue being hit. He heard Lance's screams. 

Lance's screams were ruination to his very being. But with that ruination came realization, and Red seemed to cooperate again. Too late, however, as the black lion had already helped Blue to its hangar.

 

* * *

"Listen, Keith... I-" Lance was cut off when Keith threw his arms around his neck. 

Lance stood there for several seconds before he realized what was happening, but then he hugged Keith back, wrapping his arms around his waist. 

"You asshole," Keith croaked into his shoulder. He was shaking, and Lance realized that the wetness on his own cheeks were tears. "You fucking asshole."

"I'm sorry," Lance said, though he wasn't sure what he was apologizing for. He held onto Keith, and what he did to him. 

"And you say you're useless?" Shiro's voice sounded amused over the comm. Lance growled in irritation and threw his helmet off, before yanking it off Keith's head as well. 

"He is right, you know," Keith said, pulling away from Lance, but staying close. His voice was shaky, and there were tears in his eyes, but he stood his ground as Lance glared down at him. "What you did out there was amazing. I've never seen anyone shoot that well." He meant it. 

Lance looked down at his hands, unable to keep them from trembling. His side hurt like a bitch, and he barely stood upright, but the boy in front of him held his attention more than anybody else.

Noticing his frustration, Keith hugged him again, and this time Lance lost himself in his arms. He almost wanted to force Keith to stay with him when he pulled away again, only to find that Keith wasn't planning on going anywhere.

In that moment, Keith pressed his lips to Lance's and Lance knew he was done for. 

Because only pure, destructive bonds could cause such ruination to someone's bones. 


End file.
